Embracing Heritage in a Tapestry of Change

When an organization I belonged to celebrated their sixtieth anniversary they used the tagline “Pride in our past, faith in our future”. It’s a line that has often resonated with me. Our heritage, the roots of where we come from are an important foundation to have underfoot. It’s a foundation that provides me with a context of my perceptions on the world around me. I see a lot of people place a high value on their cultural heritage and the foundations it gives them. Sadly, the high value also creates a lot of friction in our society. It’s important for me to realize life is constant change, some large, some small. Some change will be personal and some will be social. Most social change requires a willingness on my part to make some personal change to contribute to a strong social fabric of community. Because I was raised with one perspective of the people around me doesn’t mean it can’t evolve as my awareness of the diversity of people and their heritage grows. Living in community is not always an easy jigsaw puzzle to fit together, sometimes it becomes necessary to shape the pieces to make them fit. The work of shaping the pieces is best accomplished with the judicious use of tools other than a hammer. It can be hard work. To be successful it usually needs to be done in collaboration with others to figure out which rough edges to smooth out and where to curve the piece around to fit into other pieces. The work of shaping the pieces can, and often does, involve opening festering wounds and letting the air clean them out so they can heal. <a href="https://shadowspublishing.medium.com/embracing-heritage-in-a-tapestry-of-change-928efa9415d8">Read More</a>